charles: he paid 85% of his income. stuart: and now he is leaving. charles: he is a piece of, you know what. stuart: he went on a cheese shopping trip just before he exited france and went to belgium. charles: france has better cheese, but belgium has them on the chocolate. stuart: dagen and connell, it is your turn. connell: stuart varney, ladies and gentlemen. good morning, everyone. i am connell mcshane. dagen is off. we will have the very latest on the fiscal cliff face up. home sales out of the basement meantime. we may have finally turned the corner and housing. how you can cash in. that is just ahead.

it is looking like a white christmas in the midwest. the retailers are not celebrating this by any means. it is the intercontinental exchange. that is what ice means. nicole: i like that. they do not have a name yet. we had both ceos on the fox business at work earlier today. moving to a new annual high today. they are making the move. they are making this purchase. this is at a 38% premium. i have to tell you, traders are

not so happy about it. all right. let's take a look at the dow jones industrial. the markets are pretty much mixed. not too far off that unchanged line. connell: let's talk about plan b. we have rich edson on capitol hill. rich: even if it does pass, it is not in its current form going to pass senate. this seems to be the best opportunity, at least, to get something moving. republican leadership is still trying to get enough votes. there are two amendments. anyone getting a tax increase for anyone earning less than $1 million a year.

capital gains and dividends, less than $1 million. 15%. that is the top rate. it makes permanent and amt patch. it prevents tens of millions of americans having to pay that additional tax. that is this first amendment. the second deals with what is known as the sole questioner. the automatic spending cuts that are supposed to take place. they will replace them with cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. we expect the house to vote on this somewhere in the 8:00 o'clock hour. if it does pass the house, it goes on to the senate. it will be a game of legislative

ping-pong. you have to watch out for the president and speaker boehner getting more momentum in their talks. if they can reach a deal, that, perhaps, would be something that would come off in the house and senate later. back to you. connell: rich edson, thank you. let's bring in vinegar and. we may as well have tomorrow's conversation today. >> it seems as if this helps us understand what is going on. i will bring a new perspective to the fullest fiscal cliff. connell: please.

>> what the democrats have been trying to do is get the republicans to agree to raising the rates on [people. if they were to do that, it would at this rate the republican brand which is the do not raise tax rates. connell: they do not care what the level is? >> right. that is what republicans want to run on. if they agree on increases around $20,250,000, then the democrats could say you are not any different than us. what they are trying to do with the million dollar limit is basically take that problem off the table. i think he is actually succeeding with that which is what it would be very hard to agree with that million dollar figure. it will not go very far.

the other side of it is the spending in this the questioner. this is the it part of the fiscal cliff. connell: if you look at interest rates, today we bring up the ten year yield, the real movement on this, the real solution to the problem, long-term, it will not happen. it will not happen until that number is a lot higher. until there are no other options. >> it all raises the question of what is the point of all of this

the point is to get economic growth in the united states well above 2%. is anything that is happening in washington right now going to contribute? not at all. connell: you might as well come up with something. just make the most of it and move on. >> i would like to see the so questioner. it would show the united states can reduce spending. i think it would have a very positive affect. i do not think it reduces spending enough that it would have any real material effect on the economy. all right, dan, thank you very much. good stuff. talk about this number. 3.1%. on the surface, just look at

that, that is not bad. john riding is here now to say that recession is, believe it or not, not off the table. >> absolutely. only if we go over the cliff in 2013. i am not worried about the spending side. it is the hundred billion dollars. it is the tax side that is the real issue. the economy is growing at two. we cannot make that. connell: we will talk about housing a little bit later. >> these are all good numbers. if you give the economy a chance, we could have that growth in 2013. connell: if you give the economy

a chance. patch is basically means if you guys in washington function. if you come up with something. let's figure this out for the time being and move on. however, dan just brought up the other point on politics. he rather see the sequester brought into place. >> as i said, it is the tax side more than the spending side. connell: if we go over the cliff, the tax hike is there. >> absolutely. if we go over the cliff, we do not make that much progress on closing either. to me, the debate seems to be much more about politics than it is about economics. it is about higher rates rather than higher tax revenues.

it is about punishment rather than incentives. connell: the simpson goals and plans like it. you could actually have lower tax rates. there will be an assistant on some sort of higher rates. down the line, do we come back to a simpson goals? >> i would hope so. we have not had the crisis get. connell: give me a realistic end of the year. >> i still think we will get it. the 250,000 have gone to

400,000. speaker boehner has accepted a principle of higher rates on those making more than $1 million. that is not clear at this point. it will be politics rather than economics that will cause the recession of 2013. connell: john, thank you. good to see you. happy new year, if we do not see you before then. have you seen these e-mails from ubs. we will ask more important question to charles payne. should you be avoiding bank stocks altogether? research in motion looks to put 2012 behind it. the earnings report makes it even more difficult. talk about the blackberry. let's look at one of the big markets today. the oil price is up around $90. we will be right back. ♪ ♪

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connell: we are back. charles payne is coming up. we will show you one of these ubs e-mails in just a moment. first, back to nicole petallides. nicole: one investor is not too happy with this stock and the company itself. the stock is down 5%. that is obviously a significant move. why is he negative on the company? he is concerned that these supplements, health supplements and such, may just be going to the sales reps and not getting to the end user like the company claims. he said she said stuff. when you hear a big investor announcing to move their share prices like it is doing today, down $1.85. the dow is flat.

back to you. connell: we talked about the big swiss bank ubs forking over $1.5 billion. two traders criminally charged here in the u.s. you look at the e-mails here and you understand. i need you to keep it as little as possible. if you do that, i will pay you. whatever you want. i am a man of my word. that may give you a reason to be angry. our question today is, does it give you a reason to avoid banking stocks as investment completely. charles payne is here, as he is every day. you had barclays and now you have ubs. more litigation heading over these guys. charles: bank of america is up like 100%. i am too afraid of these kind of

thanks. i did not like the risk reward. i think there are a lot of on answered questions with what is brewing to meet the surface there. we have morgan stanley as a trade. i do like goldman sachs. i like the comparisons, more than anything else. listening, volume is down. also, we have regulations. at least we know what it is. lower margins because of price transparency. they admit they will lose revenue. all of that stuff is out there. connell: goldman had a settlement of its own on a different story. not love or talk up on on a financial crisis issue.

charles: in part because most of the time they were using -- which was a fantastic sign for the stock. will that be a big story next year. charles: you just never know. that is one industry, for whatever reason, they never get a clean bill of health. there is always someone trying to beat the system. you don't think someone will try to figure out a way around basel three. if you configure in around within the rules, that is fine. too often they get into the gray area. connell: the gray area is considered e-mail at this point. [ laughter ] lou: what happened to writing it down on a napkin and then eating it at the bar.

connell: i can totally see you doing that. [ laughter ] okay. thank you, charles. another setback for apple. this is the patent stuff with samsung. and then, it is one of the biggest party cities in the united states. now, more reason to celebrate. we will tell you what. and then, currencies. here they are. here is how they are faring against the dollar. we will be right back. ♪ every school day.

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>> 23 minutes past the hour. i am jamie colby. i have your fox news minute. people paying respects to the victims of sandy hook elementary. there are six more funerals today. attorney general eric holder is traveling to newtown to meet with local law enforcement. that will happen later this afternoon. a scathing report that falsifies

state leaders for an adequate security at the attack of the u.s. consulate in benghazi. a memorial service is being held for the late u.s. senator inside the u.s. capitol building today. the beloved senator from hawaii was the second longest senator in u.s. history. back to connell. connell: breaking news out of washington right now. eric cantor just roughed up some comments. there he is. they just roughed up a few moments ago from capitol hill. on the boat tonight that is expected on the plan b -- cantor saying they just wrapped up.

i believe two days after christmas, they will be back to talk about this. also another breaking political story. the mayor of newark, new jersey, cory booker is going to run for senate. he will run for senate in new jersey in 2014. why is that important, well, there has been a lot of speculation that he may run for mayor and take on governor chris christie and new jersey. okay. now, back to business. apple in the news today.

you have u.s. authorities rejecting the pinch to zoom. you can see the feature now. it allows your fingers to zoom in and out. back in august, a jury ruled that samsung had infringed on six apple patents. they awarded apple over a billion dollars in damages. this ruling wiped out at least half of that. apple is only down by about 1%. the economy continues to recover. brookings, taking a look at cities, third place would be phoenix. home prices jumping over 10% year over year. california was second. the number one, in terms of improvements, new orleans.

coming off of its lows. they do have a harrisburg, pennsylvania, by the way, at the bottom of this list. the question today, is this finally the moment you can say housing has turned the corner. home sales are returning. first, here are some winners on the s&p 500. ♪

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connell: we are back now on markets now. we are going to check in with nicole petallides. nicole: we have a couple of movers to talk about. let's start out with rite aid. it is up 18.25%. that is a huge move. they are posting their first quarterly profit and more than five years. they have more prescriptions that have been filled. obviously, that is going good. on the other side of the coin, bed bath and beyond is down nearly 9% today. hitting a new 52 week low. hurricane sandy is one of the reasons. they are trying to keep up with their tech knowledge he and websites. you can see, good bath and

beyond is under some pressure with that weaker forecast. back to you. connell: now, onto housing. maybe we can finally say it, ron, housing has finally turned the corner. that is it. it is off to the races. >> connell, i could not agree more. i would say that housing is back. it has been in the penalty box as it relates to the economy. i think that this past year, we have moved from a drag to being a very small contributor. i think next year, it will start to assume the role that it has played four years. that is as a country emerges out of a slowdown, housing is a major contributor in bringing it back and bringing growth into

the economy. connell: if someone has been watching and waiting and they do not want to get out and buy a new house, they could have been thinking home prices will come down even more and, now, maybe not, by looking at these numbers. what would you say to someone who has been waiting and not willing to jump in yet? >> there have been plenty of people waiting. i think reality is, you can only wait so long. i think we have a number of the key metrics in place that would suggest now is the right time. we have inventory at a ten-year low. we are down to about 2 million existing home sales on the market. their trailing ten year average is about 2.6 million. we are way below our average and way below where we should be given the size of the economy. secondarily, we have low interest rate that about 3.4%. i do not know what wisdom would

suggest that they will go much lower. i think the other thing is you know, we have no new construction for a long period of time. we have no backlog of inventory. demand is far out reaching the supply. i think the time is right. clearly you have to have a job, and you have to have credit. connell: also, on the rates. you said there is no reason to think they will go lower. no big move up either though, right? >> clearly not. they may not hang at 3.4, but the other side of that, we are seeing price increases. the pressure because of limited supply. we will see home prices go up. if you will get what you believe is the best deal, probably the next three or five months. the best deals will be gone.

connell: thank you for joining us today. >> thank you. connell: let's move onto technology. is anyone buying blackberries anymore. shibani joshi is here now to talk about it. shibani: i think it is an exaggeration to feel like nobody is buying it. all eyes on research in motion. the blackberry maker on either a comeback or perhaps extinction. also, whether or not it can hold onto its cash balances. as we all know, device sales have not been so great for this company. on the decline this year as the industry waits for its refreshed line of smartphones. they have been delayed quarter after quarter after quarter. they have been down 5% since

september. also high hopes for the tablet device pretty much diminished after 130,000 devices were sold in the most recent quarter. even still, this beat the street is pretty optimistic. take a look at what the stock has done in the past three months. almost doubled. up 41% in the last month alone. a strong cash position. blackberry 12 coming out in january. that is what everyone is waiting for and they are pretty excited about it. connell: well, we will see. ugly numbers so far. shibani, thank you. do not go away. you do not want to miss what we have coming up. charlie gasparino will be here. >> i do not know where you get your information, charlie, but -- is this another time when you were a guest bartender

somewhere? ♪

>> hi everyone, i have your box business brief. jobless claims rose more than expected in the last week. it will smooth out volatility. general motors is recalling or than 145,000 pickup trucks because the hoods can unexpectedly fly open blogging the drivers vision. most of those trucks were sold in north america. amazon.com film production unit is producing six original comedy series with the episodes airing on the original service. viewer response will help respond which go into full season production. that is the latest from the fox business network.

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connell: we talked about the $8 million deal being acquired by ice, the intercontinental exchange. one of the things people are talking about is what does this mean for the future of human beings on the floor of the exchange. charlie gasparino covering this story about that area topic. >> in times of stress, this economy turns to the new york stock exchange. there is a reason there is an american flag wrapped around the front of this building. charlie: you are committed to the floor traders, keeping them here? >> absolutely. connell: charlie live now from the floor.

pretty big day down there, obviously. charlie: i am blown away by this story. we were pretty much on this thing from the get go. this was on a merger. the initial reports coming out of the, i believe, "wall street journal." this is a 200-year-old institution being taken over by a company from atlanta that has been in business for the last 12 years. this is amazing. that is like the glass half empty or half full power. about another year ago, we were talking about, and a lot of people moaning about a german institution taking over the new york stock exchange. that says something about america's dominance in world finance. we are seeing an entrepreneurial company now taking over the stock exchange. that is not bad.

that is what american capitalism is all about. that is something to be celebrating. we should do some stories about him and exactly who he is. he is a utility company executive. you have to trade energy. energy is treated like a commodity on the exchanges. he figured out a way to build a better mousetrap, a better exchange. how do i build my own, that is essentially an electronic exchange, the thing is worth $10 billion. i am not sure where the ice is trading. i know the new york stock exchange is trading significantly well above where it was trading yesterday. this is an amazing day for american capitalism. it is a new york institution. yes, it is old.

an american institution is being bought by another american institution. one of the best things about it, they are not getting rid of the floor. i am a person of lear in human beings. when the power goes down and computers screwup, which, they do all the time, as we all know. aside from that what let's talk about the businesses. the nasdaq will have to respond. how does the cme, how does harry duffy -- talk to terry duffy who

runs the cme. what are you going to do comparatively to fight this. this is a big deal. this shakes out the whole space. these are public companies. then, there is a public policy debate. is this a good thing? i am sure that the sec will come out with something. what do they think about this from a market structure. markets are fragmented now. we have a very fragmented market. i, personally, think that this is good for the markets. i think it is very good. it is a good thing.

connell: terrific reporting. we will go back to local and a few minutes to get a look at the markets. >> a company that last year had revenue of $53 billion. the busiest time of the year. 35,000 of the shipping containers going worldwide. the man who is in charge when does right now. i know this is your busy time. you do not sleep much, i imagine, after thanksgiving. >> this is a somewhat stressful time for the whole management team.

>> are people sending stuff overnight or are they sticking to the three to five business days? >> we are still seeing people, the procrastinators, if you would, that are shipping next day air. >> tomorrow, you can still ship and get it there in time. you are the largest freight shipping company worldwide. do you see a slowdown or do you see things picking up in the future. >> we see the team able to manage the airline network. manage the assets. >> do you see shipping increasing or staying status quo in 2013? >> we see a slight uptick. >> i know you are getting an uptick today.

500 million for the whole holiday season. this week, it is their busiest week. i hope you have your stuff sent out in the mail. connell: i think i am all right. nicole: the dow, nasdaq and s&p have not been too far off of the downline. when you talk about mark, they were working on a new cholesterol drug that was used to boost your good cholesterol. the findings on this particular drug was not good news. it is down $0.94. 42.72. losing more than 2%.

connell: thank you. adam a moment ago was talking about ups. what about the weather? this will make it tough to get around. first, some of the winners we are seeing over at the nasdaq. ♪

connell: we are back. we know if you look at these pictures it will be a white christmas for a lot of the country. the midwest getting hit by this

major snowstorm. the first of the season. tough to get out and shop. a pretty big storm. >> absolutely. this produced so many problems across parts of colorado, nebraska, back into kansas. this is still going through here. the heaviest snow bands setting up through parts of missouri, into iowa and parts of wisconsin. the heavy snow will be paired with very dusty wind. the heavy rain also advancing into parts of indiana, out into parts of ohio. the storm is actually going to intensify as we head into the course of the afternoon. the reason this is strengthening is a lot of cold air plunging southward on the backside of the

storm. the precipitation will actually start as rain. the temperatures drop in the cold air drops in. it will cause a rapid freeze. big travel issues. the snow will pile on on top. gus up to 50 miles per hour. this ability will be exceptionally poor. even in places where the snow is stopping. in places like des moines. connell: thank you, very much. a tough report for a lot of people. they say the drought, i guess, that is a good point. they need some moisture in those parts. the weather is also wreaking havoc on commodity prices. here is jeff flock with more on that. jeff: good news on the drought

front. that is exactly what they need is that kind of moisture. take a look at the pictures. we have been worried here. i am in the oke. right now. >> it really helps the wheat market. we will expect to have a better crop. jeff: and helps with the situation on the mississippi river. you can get shipments up and down. >> all of that really plays into it. jeff: you said this market is pretty thin right now. >> a lot of money on the sidelines with what is happening in washington, d.c.

the fiscal cliff has everyone worried. jeff: virginia, always appreciate your insight. thank you. a lot of people talking today. also, about the merger. even though it is competition here, it also is an acknowledgment. they must have been doing something right here in chicago all along. connell: every time you think about futures and trading floors and what it means for human beings, yes, it is a big story. jeff flock, thank you. as we continue, the other big things comes out of washington. there is still plenty going on with this fiscal cliff. we expect many more by this evening. cheryl casone and dennis deal breaking it all down. what it means for your money. ♪ i always wait until the last minute.

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dennis kneale. cheryl: i am cheryl casone. it is the fiscal cliff face of. john boehner pushing a vote for a plan b, president obama promising a veto. we will be live on capitol hill where the situation is changing by the minute. dennis: what ifs for your stock. three scenarios facing your portfolio and your 401(k) from the fiscal cliff. to not mrs.. cheryl: it is looking like a very white christmas in the midwest and retailers are worried it will take a bite out of last-minute sales. dennis: and coming up on our week-long series stocking up for the holidays, how you can cash in on teen retail. cheryl: we are coming up on the top of the hour. stocks every 15 minutes, nicole petallides standing, stock exchange. really a mix trading day, not a

lot of direction. how is volume? nicole: volume at two thirty-nine million shares changing hands, the fear index slightly to the upside, the dollar, same thing slightly stronger, commodities pulling back, gold is the story when you look at the big board because it is down $28 but we focus on these equities, you can see the dow holding above 13,200, one of the names that was weighing in the dow was merrick because of the cholesterol drug, with stock about j. b. holmes growing exponentially over the last 52 weeks. the fourth quarter net was going to fall 44% in that order, we quarters, net profits falling, not good news. stock is down 5% today. cheryl: we will see you 14 minutes from now. is the fiscal cliff face off at this hour, john boehner is

pushing for a house vote sometime this afternoon or early evening on plan b. dennis: this as president obama promises save the dough. rich edson live on capitol hill with the latest. rich: this is the backup plan republicans introduced a couple days ago. negotiations with john boehner and president obama hit another impasse earlier this week so the house is going to vote on a bill that deals with the automatic spending cuts for next year and some other tax provisions that have to kick in on january 1st. even this small provisions they will have work to do. >> this is just the beginning of a down payment for what i hope will be truthful bipartisan discussions to try to address the spending. >> john boehner's plan b cuts taxes for millionaires by $50,000 while raising taxes on the middle-class. this is not an exaggeration. this is not hyperbole. these are the facts.

now is not the time for political posturing. rich: the house vote on two amendment this evening. the first deals specifically with taxes and create permanent tax rate for any income amounts under $1 million and allows tax rates to revert and get higher for amounts over $1 million. capital gains and dividends at 15%, to operate from down under $15, million dollars, twenty% for amounts of more. there's a permanent alternative tax act that prevents tens of millions of americans from paying the original tax and sets the estate tax at 35% for amounts of $5 million. all other government spending cuts to get rid of those automatic spending cuts, $94 billion that are supposed to hit government spending and federal spending after the military starting next year. then if the house passes this this evening it goes to the senate where democrats say they will not pass the bill as currently structured.

they could change it from there. no clear path two an end game. no agreement between democrats and republicans. cheryl: i need a big chalkboard to keep track of everything that is changing in this war. rich edson in washington. you want to stay with fox business for full coverage of the fiscal cliff showdown. neil cavuto will be all over at 8:00 eastern time. dennis: fiscal cliff phobia rising as the deadline approachedes, three possible scenarios womb. there is a long-term solution, compromise or going over the cliff and here with two different views on what is going to happen and who the winners and losers might be are the financial chief market strategist and ted parish of investments, let's start with you, you have the boldest prediction, you think there's a 55% chance we go over the cliff and yet you are not calling for any major change in your stock portfolio. why is that? >> i don't think there's any

chance of getting a long-term solution given the frustration they're having with each side. compromise before the end of the year is lower than actually going over. i think we will go over the cliff but we will have time in the new year to actually come back and fix things in a hurry to ward off implications for the economy. we also have to work with what we know in terms of portfolios, we no taxes are going up so the planning issue, we know the health care reform act is going to hurt health care so we might not medical devices and other areas that going to be impacted. stocks still look good so we are not doing a whole bunch. dennis: new figure there's a 25% chance we go over the cliff. if we don't and we get a compromise what happens to stocks. will a rally in january? >> i am not so sure. i think markets have been pricing and the likelihood that

we get some deal late this year or early next year. stocks are up pretty well this year and even more so here in the last three months or so. they are not rising over the cliff so i don't think we get a huge pot. we may get a little bit of a lift the what we're probably going to get is a 1-year deal, something the senate passed in the middle of last year. we are looking at another clip towards the end of next year. we were might get a little bit of a lift, stocks might do low single-digit gains on low single-digit earnings growth and early in the year cyclical industrials might be a great place to be bought later in the year we might begin to give back those gains, relatively flat year given we have another clip venomous as we look at 2014. dennis: you think we can set new record highs this coming year. >> the bearish case is easy to make. it is hard to see the bullish

case. i think the market stops to look for ridge. looking for a to the middle of the year, we have probably settled and stocks still will remain a good place to invest. earnings revisions have been decent and lately that is what matters in the end. if we do go all the way over the cliff we are now facing a 2008 situation where liquidity will freeze. we have consumer spending, the global situation is looking better, stocks should do pretty well. that is why we think stocks have a good chance of all time highs in the new year. dennis: let's look at winners and losers if we get a compromise you feel is the most likely outcome of compromise, fiscal clifton area, stock-index, low single-digit gains, the best performers are large caps and the worst performers are treasuries. elaborate, please. >> i don't think defenses are the place to be. we have seen that way out. instead you will look to find

better yielding areas of the market. large cap u.s. stocks actually have a decent dividend yield. when you look at a low return environment, it looks very attractive. foreign stocks and some emerging markets look pretty attractive to us as we look out to 2013 seeing the re-emergence of growth in china, better economic data out of brazil, improving things in india. looking around and finding not double digit opportunities but single-digit opportunities in what is going to be a tough year fundamentally. dennis: last quick answer, let's say we go over the cliff do stocks tumbled on that? should you buy? >> of course stocks are going to go down. look what happened when they voted down the initial t.a.r.p.. look what happened in the first negotiations. the market will trade down if we go over. is a matter of coming back to the drawing board and coming up with ordinary term solution. if that happens stocks will

rebound. dennis: thanks very much. gentlemen. cheryl: apple is in the news today. u.s. patent authorities rejected apple's claims about its hinge to zoom feature, a big setback. you can see the feature on your screen. allows you to use your fingers on the screen to zoom in or out. in august 8th jury ruled samsung had infringed on patents and awarded apple $1 billion in damages. this newest and authority, wipes out at least part of that settlement. will get shares of apple right now be huge there at 55 -- 445. the stock is the topic of many downgrades in the past couple of weeks. dennis: might get peace parties to come to the table and compromise. cheryl: new home sales numbers are out. sales of previously owned homes hitting the best level in three years, details freight ahead.

dennis: christmas sales, white out, retailers worried heavy snow will be the grinch that stole their sales. cheryl: as we do every day at this time we will take a look at oil, beginning close to 90, down $0.24 right now but still sitting near the $90 level. we will be right back. [ male announcer ] this is amy. amy likes to invest in the market. she also likes to ride her bike. she knows the potential for making or losing money can pop up anytime. that's why she trades with the leader in mobile trading. so she's always ready to take action,

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cheryl: time to make money with charles payne who is following up on health care sector stocks recommended on monday. thinking is doing all right. charles: beavis is up 10%. we were up 14% from your show on monday. had subscribers take profits on half but you have two things going on. they had really good news, going to cover a lot of this new drug they have which is for weight-loss. they will take care of a feared of the retail price for people who use it as a mail-order. that is big news but the daily milling suggesting johnson and johnson and/or after zeneca could be possible buyers. to make them more intriguing, the bad news with merck on the cholesterol drug already approved in europe did not

approval america. they spend a lot of money to come up with nothing in this country. for these companies to go out, getting some penetration in the marketplace, one of these rumors that may be viable. this is the $20 stock back in june so there's a lot of room to the upside. we take half on these ford of things especially if you make 14% to wait three four days and take it, not all that bad a cat and a month's run. dennis: is that flighty? a good company with good prospects and a takeover possibility why shouldn't i let my -- not take half of it? charles: it is called death of coin. how often the make 4% in three days? there are other competitors out there. doesn't have to be acquired. the public perception won't be as good. there are enough and knowns to register a little bit. cheryl: thank you. dennis: 15 past the hour, stocks

every 15 minutes. team coverage, jeff flock in the trading pits of the cme, all the bad weather in the midwest, first nicole petallides on the stock exchange, the dow down. nicole: big deal. movers on the dow jones industrials, down 2% not doing well with the cholesterol drug they have been working on but the nasdaq composite down 0.one% and the s&p trying to squeeze out a gain sitting at 1436 and change on that level for that index and commodities pulling back but we have big news on the stock exchange, we have been talking about inter-continental exchange moving forward and buying this stock exchange for $8.2 billion, 38% premium. you see stocks moving up 33-1/4% hitting a new 52 week high, some people feel the nyse sold out or didn't do a good job and others they are happy they did not sell to its foreign company.

the hole. a bourse deal that didn't happen. two american companies. that is the latest on the floor of the stock exchange. jeff: when is bad news good news? when the bad news is a snowstorm and the good news is it is putting an end to a drought and the moisture problem in the midwest. take a look at the wheat, corn, soybean boards are all down, it is bearish because if you get moisture maybe you don't get a drought. that had been overhanging this market for a long time. look at the pictures. you think it is no big deal to have snow in the midwest. i better shut up. cheryl: we want to go to capitol hill, harry reid is holding a news conference on the cliff. >> political stunts is what they have been. it is obvious the speaker, working with his republican

team, can't get enough votes to get it to pass much of anything. that is why they worked all day yesterday and started the day before to get to the rules committee to get out. i understand the rules committee is a tool of the speaker. i don't mean that in a negative sense. if he has trouble in the rules committee, he has real problems. he has real problems. let me be absolutely clear. john boehner's plans are nonstarters in the senate. the latest thing we have seen which we will vote on at 8:00 will raise taxes on twenty-five million american families by more than $1,000 while giving millionaires and average tax break of additional $50,000 each. if what they have gotten out of

rules is not going to pass the senate, president obama said he will veto it. house republicans know that the bill has no future. they don't know it now, tell what i said. we all agree. cheryl: we wanted to get those comments from senator harry reid talking about plan b basically saying john boehner can do what he wants but he is not going to get anywhere with any legislation in the senate. dennis: it sounded like more of the same from both parties. cheryl: we will monitor harry reid's comments out of washington. if he says anything else interesting we will let you know. there is something else happening across the country. in the midwest, for those of you dreaming of a white christmas, look at this. may be more of a nightmare. in the fox weather center with your holiday forecast. dennis: can there be any better publicity, congress is in an

uproar over at the dart 30. cheryl: how the world currencies are faring against the u.s. dollar. the euro is stronger today it a lot of that based on what is happening in europe and the fact greece has gotten their fiscal house in order.

>> 23 minutes past the hour your fox news minute and winter is here. severe winter weather across the midwest. blizzard conditions expected to disrupt travel plans for millions of americans that are heading out for the holidays, state from kansas to wisconsin and getting hit with massive amounts of snow and strong wind after several midwestern cities set records for the most consecutive days without any snow and a travel might barely getting worse as the weather system moved eastward. also newark, new jersey mayor cory booker-run for u.s. senate. the 43-year-old democrat breaking the news over twitter this morning, the sweet ending speculation over whether he would challenge chris christie next year, the new jersey republican whose approval rating

had an all-time high after superstorm sandy. his second term as mayor ends in mid 2014. those your headlines. back to cheryl. cheryl: trying to get over those pictures oo the midwest. thank you very much. existing homes sales climbing at their fastest pace in three years of almost 6%, five million homes sold last month. our next guest says these numbers are not only solid but proof of the recovery in the overall real-estate market, better homes and gardens real estate ceo is back with more good news. you like these numbers and your positive about real-estate. housing starts and coming in down 3%, worried about the wrinkles or are you positive? >> housing starts, that was a little bit of a surprise, housing starts down 3% but when we look at the numbers today, one of the caveat of the numbers today is the fact that inventory

is low and there's a five months supply. that could bring housing starts up in months to come. cheryl: 17 consecutive months of sales gains and month over month price gains as well so we're seeing inventory going down and prices going up but what about financing. this always comes up, our banks getting better about lending? >> there is no real change since last time we talked and of course that is something we are conscious of each and every day with every client we deal with but when we look at mortgage rates being as low as they are and prices going up, those are great indicators. cheryl: we are at the point where the business we are looking in, all the stocks performed well, number one stock for 2012 is pulte, a homebuilder. surprise you? >> i will go back to the fact that there's a shortage of listings. that is going to bring the new

home construction numbers potentially up in months to come. >> stocks of 195%. leonard no. 6 in all the rankings. something else you did is you studied checks combined, seventy-five million americans and you found kids in their 20s are not lazy, they want to buy a home, they want to save money for homes. that surprised me. >> surprise me a pleasant way. what our survey told us was the young adults in the 18 to 34-year-old range are responsible adults, the value homeownership, almost 40% of them told us they want to buy a home in the next three to five years. think about that. seventy-five million, forty% want to buy a home, that is encouraging news for the housing -- cheryl: sandy did not have that negative effect on housing as well. happy new year, thank you for being here, we will see what

january brings. dennis: political uproar over the film about the hunt for usama bin laden. why the movie has politicians like john mccain so upsets. plus our stocking up series continues. find out which teen retailer you should be buying and which ones you might want to sell and look at today's winners on the s&p.

cheryl: we are right now in dade

4 of our stocking got ceres looking at retailers taking some hits right now with many of the biggest names in the red but which teen chains are winning and losing one comes to the holiday season overall? john morris of capital markets joins me right now. let's go right to it because one of the key names that surprised me is a gap. teenagers are going back to gap. >> we do a lot of consumer focused research and consumer survey work and one of the most interesting things we are finding is the older team is going back to that gap. we have a better product because of better talent in place at the organization, you have people overseeing merchandising who come from some real blue chip names, they're doing a better job with the product and the teens see it and going back. cheryl: stock is up 72% and you

have to outperform urban outfitters and express, urban outfitters, another name that has outperformed, stock of 50% over the last year. is this the teenage story? >> it tends to attract a slightly older teen or young adults, but in arkansas mercer rework the teens give urban outfitters the most improved award because they're getting a kiss from the fashion trend. we're back in a fashion cycle. color is working well that there's a lot of style in terms of tops. we have not seen strong cash incentive and a number of years and the teens see this and they see with the offering and going back and they like what they see. cheryl: what you do as part of your research which is great is you give teenagers money, you send them to the mall. what do you learn from that about bear behavior? >> the interesting thing that for the first time in recent memory the teens are trading up.

it is counterintuitive but they're very focused. cheryl: spending more money? >> they're going from a value purchase, needed a cuban or what only shop on the sale, they know they want that particular open net sweater or that particular animal motif top and they go in and find it and instead of just getting the value play, at the discount retailer they trade up. you see aerospatiale trading up to american eagle, from american eagle to abercrombie, from hn them to express. cheryl: you are not a big aerospace shall fan. frankly in the last six months it was 20% of its value. the kids are walking away? >> it had a tougher time finding where their personality rests. what they have tried to do is in views more fashion into their assortment and it is not working because it is known as a brand

that is purely on the basis of price and basics. they think they can get teens to coming but they will not be the likes of fervor 21. cheryl: one thing we saw a black friday, fox business was live at least for following that and a lot of young kids hit the stores on black friday, they had bags, shop, monday after black friday all retail names were down. what happened? >> there's obviously a big pickup, a conversion after black friday weekend so they are not back in the malls as much as they would have been. you saw a lot of fields happening in stores because the stores are competing more and more each year against ecommerce so when you get to monday the shoppers not out as much. i think the stocks recognize that. cheryl: i hope all the parents watching know the gap might be a good last-minute holiday gift for their kids. thank you very much. we will let you know that

tomorrow we will end our stocking up series by giving credit to the street credit card companies. chris is going to give us his picks. do not miss that one. >> never mind tom cruise's action film, the film version of the broadway musical liz miserables could be the blockbuster at the box office, advance sales smash all-time record for any film opening christmas day. box office.com says it could read $136 million in its full u.s. run. who would have thought it? a musical. elsewhere, mel was supposed to stick around as ceo of the company revived with help from john malone who took over from under him but liberty named interim chief yesterday. this year he reaped profits for

$170 million on stock sales. rom eyand i-issm context.

cheryl: john mccain

>> tracy byrnes with your fox business brief. inter-continental chain buying the euro next for $8 billion in stocks. folks -- duncan neiderauer, and founder and chairman jeffrey specter earlier today and asked if the deal was the strategy from the company and this is what he said. >> it is the best shareholder value creation, if you try something you thought was a good idea and fail that doesn't mean you give up. i have committed to stay at least through the end of 2014

and may be longer. he is not rushing me to the exit and i'm not looking for one. cheryl: google has found a buyer for its box business. motorola home is being sold to a cable equipmentmaker for $2.4 million. that is the latest from the fox business network giving you the power to prosper. inwebinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's anothereason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade.

cheryl: west coast cities making big economic recoveries. according to the brookings institute latest report, san jose, phoenix, portland, oregon and boise are on their way to recovery. the report looks at things such as employment, production and home values, none of those cities hit the top spot which went to new orleans. senator dianne feinstein's daughter kathryn at superior court in san francisco, retiring, speculation is rampant she may try to replace her mother in washington. the 55-year-old downplayed the notion in a recent interview

that she did say she is open to running for public office. the late senator daniel inouye lying in state on capitol hill. a brief ceremony was held this morning attended by harry reid and others. the rotunda with open to the public at noon but people started to violin, he will lay in state through tomorrow morning. he died monday at the age of 88. that is your west coast minute. dennis: the city of las vegas is on the mend with places like my next guest's casino seeing double-digit booking growth. joining me for this week's on the road is the ceo of the cosmopolitan of las vegas. i got to start with one of the weirdest things about your hotel and that is your tv commercial. they are really different. you have that one where guys are talking and uttering lines from queen.

i wonder what kind of audience you are going after with this stuff. >> we set out at the cosmopolitan to create trips to los angeles that would not otherwise happen. one way you do that is an out in a sea of sameness and the results for us have been very strong and it is a win/win for las vegas. we went after a psychographic. that is native people who enjoy foreign food and interesting hotels, they are gamers. it has been a big success for us. dennis: sounds like a younger profile compared to the usual las vegas visitor. you hope to start 2013 with 220,000 advance ritter mentals and groups visiting your hotel. is that up or down? you have been up in two years. >> we will celebrate. we just passed the two year opening. the grand opening was new year's

eve and we will celebrate this year with the killers over the weekend and red hot chili peppers. we go into 2013 with 230,000 convention bookings and that compares to the same time last year where we were at 190,000 so that is 20% growth which is a very encouraging sign. dennis: success feeds on itself and international visitors, a bigger share of the visit to your hotel bizet's. >> the international visitors the biggest growth segment for all of las vegas and we did our fair share and that is fantastic because we just opened terminal free this summer at mclaren international airport and is a beautiful facility but more importantly there have been new routes added from europe and south america, direct service into las vegas and that opened up 50 markets in latin america for us and las vegas

particularly the cosmopolitan really resonates. dennis: surprising given the fears of global recession that you're getting international guests. when i read about the hotel-casino is almost beside the point. it gets one line in a 13 line paragraph, you have a new ice skating rink. what is going on? >> the casino is a central part of las vegas and that is why people came here and continue to come here. 80% of people to las vegas game. that is an important segment of our business. that being said, what sets casinos and hotels apart are the other amenities. for us it is the guest rooms, residential style guest room with terraces where you can step out on your terrace and engage in las vegas and on the strip in a way that can't be done in other places. in the pool district where the ice rink opened a few weeks ago sits about 100 feet above the

strips to you tonight skate and looked down at the strip in the evening, said at a fire pit and watch the movie and next monday we will show white christmas and monday as dates night at the ice rink. we have a lot of things that make it interesting, appeal to that customer. dennis: all of this, and ice skating rink in the desert. i love it. it is las vegas. thank you for being with us. [talking over each other] cheryl: a quarter till. every 15 minutes we have stocks that you have news on eli lilly. nicole: some news coming out on eli lilly, the pharmaceutical company, the sec securities and exchange commission, stock is higher, 1/2%, charging eli lilly and co. for violation of the corrupt practices act for

improper payments to foreign government officials to win millions of dollars of business for the pharmaceutical company in areas such as russia, brazil, china and poland. let's look to the major market average. the s&p is in the green, down and nasdaq pulling back a little bit. we are seeing drug index overall under pressure, eli lilly is likely to be in that index and banking index is higher so that is looking good. cheryl: thank you very much, see you at the top of the hour. if you are looking for that last-minute specialty gift brook stone might be on your list. how are they competing in the online space? the president and ceo is here. dennis: in time for a few last-minute gifts. let's look at today's winners. cheryl: what do you want? tell me now. [ male announcer ] ou are a business pro.

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dennis: a brand new christmas scrooge story, cliff stoll christmas. cheryl: blaming the fiscal clip for why consumers are cutting back on spending. here is the bottom line. liz: shopper track, they track shopping at 40,000 retail outfits, the co-founder, bill martin of shopper track weighing in on the impact of the national mood on shopping.

here is the shopper, take a listen. >> we have a lot of interesting events that have occurred, tragic events, weighs the psyche of the consumer. we see them headed to the stores for a foot traffic standpoint, they are a little stingy with dollars they're putting out. liz: foot traffic is up but spending is not up,.5% versus the previous forecast but looks like people are coming out to stores to basically hang out with each other and socialize and whether they do more spending remains to be seen. bill martin said that the scene has been coming out since black friday and giving everything consumers are spending, i see positive signs with the foot traffic numbers coming in. dennis: thank you. cheryl: online shopping sales for christmas are expected to

top $90 billion of how and specialty burke and mortar retailers like books don't compete? the ceo and president, thank you for joining us. i want to ask about a trend in your stores. everything from the cases to the wi-fi stereo, blue tooth stereo, cheaper on line. and your you going to lower the prices a little bit? >> i think our products are the best in the market. they are beautifully designed, power. to ski board case, the keyboard is removable and runs on a bluetooth, we are unique on that in the marketplace and we find our products to be better value for the products you get. cheryl: you are new to the job, you used to be a good friend of mine on the show for many years, coming in to keep up with the

trend, last year he was very much about the speakers,. to speakers on your iphone and the projector. how are those selling this year versus last year? >> they are selling very well this year and they are much different, we have improved them dramatically. we took from 35 to 90 and now we have high-definition. it is also -- we have a rechargeable unit, we have done a great job improving that unit. a much better projected that it was last year, wireless. cheryl: 299 points, the price line is not too crazy. you talked about the screening device, everything is wireless but also the full bottle wine area leader is also, you were saying, picking up in popularity. the think that price point is better for consumers? >> the price point is excellent

in terms of enjoying your dinner with a great bottle of wine. you don't have to decant the wine, just insert the creator in the ball landed area it's right in the bottle so it gives you this magnificent east that lowers the tannins and you can drink bottle after bottle. cheryl: i want to ask about sales of 4stone.com and how online retail is tracking for use this year. >> tracking where a over latest year. we had an excellent increase in sales. i was amazed yesterday five daas before christmas we had a fantastic day because we were shipping and in stock and people are still buying online and we have a terrific assortment online for gifts. cheryl: this is a big time for broke stone and appreciate your time during the holiday season and talk to you soon. >> thank you.

dennis: a sticky situation in canada. three people under arrest and more suspects are sought in the death -- that the $18 million worth of a valuable liquid commodity, not oil but rather maple syrup. it came from something called the global strategic maple syrup reserve up there in canada run by what amounts to canadian cartel. the thieves managed to steal six million pounds of syrup. authorities in the u.s. are working to recover the syrup and also searching for a world's largest waffle. maybe they will find rest of that. cheryl: actually had waffles for dinner last night. when an adult you can do that. it will go up in price. he met with president obama about the fiscal cliff yesterday, now he is talking with melissa frances and lori rothman coming up next. copd makes it hard to breathe,

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